Photographer Bharat Sikka, who’s shot many a fashion editorial for Vogue India, had a one-evening-only show in one of the cement shell buildings of Bandra's Mehboob Studios as part of the Mumbai Focus Photography Festival on March 20.

A series of new works titled 'Matter' presented by Gallery Nature Morte was installed and people attended in numbers acting on the information that viewers would become part of it by being photographed by Sikka at the installation itself.

'Matter' is Sikka’s personal ("urban, educated, middle-class and self-conscious") perspective on an India that’s dealing with the consequences of rapid globalization and development.

Working across formats — studio, street, landscape and portrait photography, the abandoning of clichéd bright hues of India in favour of blacks, greys, whites and silvers, Sikka creates a Gestalt impression of the "new" India, “an ancient culture slamming up against contemporary realities”.

"'Matter' is a visual record of the many things that come my way. From photographing the ordinary, to the dead and the alive, these images constitute things that evoke an impulsive emotion in me," says Sikka.

"They do not only merely determine the state of my mind, but also challenge the way I perceive my surroundings. Each of these images has their own story or perhaps none at all. From an impetuous decision of jotting a word down, to rather lifting my camera and making that picture, I am writing and making notes while also making images," says the photographer.

Also attending were the Focus Photography Festival team led by Matthieu Foss, along with Chanel's Marielou Phillips, stylist Gary Robert Wallang, Mukul Deora, gallery owner and curator Shireen Gandhy and Amitabh Nanda to name a few.

Mattershow.com will document and update the collection of images for next year.